London to Bayeux seems too pricey! Help please.

Steven - I did check out that site. I am trying to follow the directions of not listing the US as my resident country so that I may get the European rate but then it wants to mail me my tickets - no option to pick up at station or print. Still working through that - any advice there would be great. Stacey - That is what I feared: it's all about timing. Cheaper tickets are just gone.

Staci, Unfortunately, the EuroStar website shows many seats sold out on 28 December, especially for mid-day departures from London. There are a few early morning seats left at £477 (US$ 764). The cheapest non-flexible tickets appear to be for mid-to-late afternoon departures. The price for those is £383 (US$ 613.60). In checking those prices, I used 2 adults and 2 children for the search. I briefly checked EasyJet, but the prices aren't any better (cheapest is €108.39 PP) from Luton to CDG. The best and easiest option still appears to be travel via EuroStar, so it would be a good idea to get something booked ASAP! You may have to adjust your travel times in order to get the most favourable prices. Note that you MUST check-in at least 30-minutes prior to departure. As this also involves going through airport-style security and clearing French Passport control, I'd leave a bit of extra time. Good luck and happy travels!

Staci , Which website(s) are you looking at ? Did yiu check out Man in seat 61 ?

I'm no expert but if 95% of the cars that day are sold out, I would assume that's why. I got $576.00 for 4 adults for that day in the evening. All my notes say that you need to book 120 days out to get the 40 GBP rate. Good luck.

Ken, How are you getting these rates? The cheapest I see on Eurostar right now is over $700. The best rate I have is on TGV Europe $777 at the time I need (morning) but it insists on mailing me my ticket. I can't seem to get around that - even tried picking different countries of residence.

Staci It looks like you are quoting prices for French and Eurostar tickets in dollars instead of Pounds Sterling and Euros. Are you looking at an American website or the website for the providers? Are you using http://www.eurostar.com? You're not using RailEurope are you?

You are way too late to get any sort of cheaper fare via the Eurostar. You can get to Bayeux via the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen(Ouistreham actually)and then train to Bayeux. The ferry docks at Ouistreham and there is a bus into the Caen railroad station. We fetched our reserved rental car from one of the 3 rental agencies right across the street from the Caen RR station then drove to Bayeux. You can also easily catch a train to Bayeux, about 20 miles or so. Check out www.aquacars.co.uk for a cheaper ride from London to Portsmouth than buying train tickets, plus they will fetch you from anywhere in London and take you directly to a Portsmouth hotel or the ferry terminal. Check out www.seat61.com for all train and ferry information or get on the Portsmouth forum on www.tripadvisor.com. It's an easy jaunt from London to Portsmouth then across to Caen and on to Bayeux. Ferry rates and the Aquacar rates don't go up, unlike the Eurostar tickets. Take a look or send me a message if you have more questions.

Thank you all for the great info. I appreciate your help.

Staci, I was using the website that Nigel mentioned, eurostar.com. As George mentioned, you might have a look at The Man In Seat 61 website. There is LOTS of incredibly good information there. Good luck!

With the lowest discount fares on the Eurostar being gone for 28 December, taking the ferry might be your cheapest option. Southern Railways trains run directly from London Waterloo to Portsmouth. The standard 2nd class fare is £25.40. Brittany Ferries run from Portsmouth to Ouistreham (the port for Caen). Taking the overnight ferry would be the best use of your time. The base adult fare is £39.00. You'll need to pay an additional fee of either £59.00 or £69.00 for a four-berth cabin. Take a shuttle bus from Ouistreham to the Caen train station and a train from there to Bayeux. The train fare is €6.30. What is your travel date for Bayeux-Paris? The standard 2nd class fare is €37.40. Booking in advance on voyages-sncf.com (French) or tgv-europe.com (English) can get you a Prem's fare as low as €15.00. If you use tgv-europe, to avoid being bumped to the US Rail Europe site hich doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as your country of residence. Then when you are asked if you want to go to the UK Rail Europe site, choose to stay with tgv-europe. Choose France as your ticket collection country. If you get a Prem's fare, you can print your own tickets. Pick up standard fare tickets at the station in either Caen or Bayeux.